Chapter 56：Galatea Effect

With widened eyes and mouth falling open, Angela stared at Gael whose grey eyes seemed to bore into her. "W-What are you doing?"

"What are 'you' doing?" He returned her question, the heat from his hand transferred to her skin, making her feel as though she was being scalded. His tone merely sounded that he was curious. However, she felt as if he was more than just that.

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't that him?" When she raised a brow in question, he clarified, "Isn't that your ex? Are you actually going to answer it?"

She gulped. It had crossed her mind. She didn't know what came over her when the thought of answering the phone call and telling Evan to stop calling just appeared in her head, though it was only for a fleeting moment. She had been avoiding the man for so long, but after hearing Gael's words earlier about her break up with Evan, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. The matter with her ex wasn't simple, however, she couldn't tell Gael about that. So when her phone rang, she had the sudden urge to tell Evan off in front of him.

Angela opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke first, "Don't answer it."

His voice was gentle when he said the words and she nodded as if in a trance. "I won't."

Right after she replied, the buzzing of her phone stopped. They glanced at her phone screen and watched as it turned off, then their gazes drifted to their hands.

And almost instantly although reluctantly, Gael released her wrist.

While she wasn't looking, he flagged a waiter over for their bill. Soon after, the waiter came and placed a bill holder onto their table. Gael swiftly took out his credit card from a protective sleeve and tapped it onto the POS terminal that the waiter brought and just like that, he had already paid for their meal.

"Hey! I was going to pay…" Angela muttered while a little baffled how that happened so fast. She watched as the waiter left their receipt on the table and left.

"You were too slow." A wide grin cast on his face as he kept his wallet back into his jeans pocket and got up from his chair. "Besides, what would that make me if I didn't pay for our first date? Shall we?" He held his hand out to her.

"This isn't—" She sighed, frowning at him as she glanced at his waiting hand. "Fine. But I'll pay next time." Then she placed her hand onto his palm.

"Ah… So I passed for a second date?" He tilted his head to the side, the grin never leaving his face, earning another look from her.

…

Mayne City, Esmea

A glass with rum hit the wall and it shattered into pieces, the amber liquid spilling over the curtain, carpet, and tiles. "Damn it!" Evan cursed, gripping his smartphone in one hand and clenching the other until his knuckles turned white. His chest heaved up and down in frustration, the fiery glare in his red-rimmed eyes made him look menacing.

He was in the living room of his house, and he was all alone. There was a piece of luggage sitting on the foot of the stairs—ready for when he leaves again the next day. He had been calling and texting Angela several times like he always did whenever he's back, but he still hadn't gotten hold of her. And what Nina told him last night only made him feel even more pissed. She was getting married? He scoffed.

There was no way that she would. He couldn't believe that she would. Who would want someone damaged like her? Clenching his jaw, he grabbed the bottle of rum and chugged it straight, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand afterward. A low chuckle escaped his throat and he drawled, "You think I'll let you off that easily? You still owe me, Angela."

…

At SDC Resort, Hillberry Isle later that afternoon...

In Angela's suite, Gael sat on the floor—facing the balcony—with his back against the side of the bed. On the bed was Angela, lying on her stomach and scribbling random words on the pad of her notebook.

"So… you're the big brother. You have half-siblings—a younger brother and a younger sister. You used to live in New York with your grandma and your mom… when she was still around. And then you went to Italy with your dad. Did I get all of that right?" she probed and he nodded.

Glancing to his left, he caught a glimpse of her notebook and saw her signing 'Galatea K.S.' in cute swirls as though she was trying to practice her autograph signature. "What about you? Do you have other siblings apart from your brother?"

"No." She shook her head, answering without lifting her head. "It's just me and him. Though… I'm not sure about my mother. I don't know if she has another family." Her voice trailed off and so did her scribbling.

Seeing as that made her suddenly pensive, he didn't dwell too much on the topic. "Angela…"

"Hm?" She raised her head and met his stare. "What?"

"Why did you choose that pen name?" he asked and their eyes landed on the signature that she just scribbled on her notebook. He knew that a lot of writers didn't want to use their real name, but he was curious as to how she came up with this name. Then, a sweet and charming smile formed on her lips, and her eyes smiled along with it, causing him to smile too.

Angela softly laughed. She rolled to the side until she laid on her back, her luscious hair falling over the bed—she was now closer to him. "K is from my second name—Kylie, and S for Su."

Gael couldn't help but stare at her as she spoke. She was about a foot away from him and his gaze trained on her smooth face. She didn't seem to be wearing any makeup, but she was beautiful. She suddenly turned her head and he met her stare. "Do you?" she asked.

"What?" He got lost for a bit and he didn't realize that she had asked a question.

"I was asking if you know what Galatea is..."

"Isn't that from Greek mythology or something?"

She nodded, then faced the ceiling again. "I remember reading a book about Greek mythology when I was in high school and the story about Pygmalion and his creation was one of my favorites. Pygmalion carved a statue of a woman with unparalleled beauty. He fell in love with it and then named it 'Galatea'. He was so enchanted by it that he wished for it to be alive and marry it. He even pleaded with Aphrodite—the goddess of love and beauty—in which she granted after seeing Galatea." She chuckled after telling the story. "Do you think it's silly?"

"It's a myth." He shrugged. He had read about it once in high school, but he didn't really care much about it. "Do you like it that much?"

"Galatea effect…" he mumbled.

Closing her eyes, she answered, "Mhmm. I don't care what others think. I know that I can do it…"

Gael heard a simple statement from Angela, but it described the kind of person she was. And damn if that didn't cause his heart to skip a beat.